In a post Labor Day effort to show that unions are still in charge of government operations in Pennsylvania, the East Allegheny teachers are on the picket line. Here is a clear case of a special interest that has been given power by the state government to disrupt a constitutionally ordered system of education for the benefit of Pennsylvanians using that power to see if it can once again get blood out of a turnip. James Madison is spinning in his grave as his admonition against government taking the side of one competing faction against another has been so nakedly violated. In this case it is teacher unions being given power over taxpayers.
East Allegheny has a large deficit in part because of the extraordinarily generous pension and health care benefits it has granted in the past; legacy costs that have, as Reverend Wright would say, come home to roost. The district is relatively hard pressed economically and is not in a position to continually raise millage rates without further damage to the economy and real estate values.
Here we have the classic problem posed by government unions. And we see examples of the outcome all over the country where local governments are financially distressed because they have for too long made bargains with workers they cannot keep but cannot get away from.
One would hope that the East Allegheny teachers who are supposed to care about the children would recognize the frail financial position of the community and go back to work. Or better yet, those who think they are worth so much more should apply for a job in a better paying, economically stronger district, or find a better paying job with great benefits and summers off in the private sector. Of course that will not happen because the union mentality is so deeply ingrained it is second nature and cannot even be questioned by its adherents. It is not a permanently sustainable position. Eventually, the behavior destroys its host.
